pattii
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http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22396049-5000117,00.htmlJUST as no amount of money can buy taste or class, pouring $170 million into a security operation doesn't guarantee justice or fairness.
Any meaningful inquiry into the APEC security operation would find it failed at times on the most basic measures of human rights and decency.
Having witnessed the treatment of some protesters during an otherwise peaceful afternoon in Sydney's Hyde Park on Saturday, some police would be lucky to escape either disciplinary or assault charges.
Maybe both.
Don't expect any investigation, however, for brutal force was exactly what police and the NSW Government were looking for.
On the surface, the police on the ground were simply following orders from their commanders.
And yet it is hard to imagine the police hierarchy encouraging elderly people to be jostled, peaceful protesters to be targets and arrested with well-rehearsed and brutal precision, or allowing heads to be jammed into concrete and bitumen.
Well, that would be the hope.
Add to the mix snipers hanging out of helicopters and hiding on CBD buildings for a week, a wall of steel and concrete ringing inner Sydney, police dogs roaming, heavily armed water police scouring the harbour and a picture emerges of security overkill.
This view will no doubt be countered by authorities, who will argue that a lack of violence is evidence of a success of the summit's security strategy.
Which would be simplistic nonsense.
The real danger for Australia is that the APEC operation will be seen as the template for future large-scale events.
This would be a mistake.
Just because NSW Police and the AFP have the tools to bully protesters doesn't mean they should be used elsewhere, certainly in Melbourne.
Melbourne might have made mistakes when it hosted the G20 meeting last year but, by comparison, the Victoria Police effort was preferable to the draconian show of force in Sydney that may change the face of protesting in Australia.
The Melbourne protesters who committed violence at the G20 were
a disgrace.
But no one who saw the worst of the police behaviour in Sydney could seek to defend it either.
Indeed, you could see the look of guilt on the faces of some of those officers who were "holding back" a small group of tree huggers.
For a shameful hour at least, it was
the police who encouraged violence by using unprovoked, rough-house tactics.
One man was arrested and thrown with abandon on to the road for the wicked crime of uttering the F-word.
Even US President George W. Bush made the point last week that there was nothing wrong with peaceful protesting and almost to a man, woman and child that was what NSW got at the weekend.
Not only did authorities over-hype the risk of violence in the heart of Sydney, the police failed to understand what they were dealing with and overreacted to a threat that was, as it turned out, deeply limited.
The police intelligence was flawed. Perhaps it was deliberately distorted to discourage protesters from venturing into the CBD or to justify the absurd budget.
The at times violent arrests and police intimidation was out of step with the nature of the Sydney march, which consisted of a vast majority of peaceful Left-wingers, many of whom were either hippies or young people who wanted to see a return to the '60s.
Unlike G20 in Melbourne last year,
the APEC march was never the serious threat that authorities made out, notwithstanding one bloody encounter with one protester.
Having reported both marches, it was clear from the start of G20 that things were going wrong but APEC was considerably more orderly and the protesters better behaved. Of course, that is with the benefit of hindsight.
Victoria Police were pilloried for being "too soft" with the way they dealt with the G20 crowd.
But better to spare the rod and maintain respect for a humane police force than use force and lose the respect of the community.
The publicity stunt by the Chaser's team, who used the Canadian flag as cover to run a fake motorcade to near George W. Bush's hotel, was funny.
But making police look stupid is never smart. That stunt must have intensified police efforts to stamp out any dissent.
It is interesting to note how softly the Chaser's crew were treated when detained. Perhaps it had something to do with the cameras capturing
the event.
An independent inquiry should be held into the police violence, using TV images and press photos as evidence of the shameful police behaviour.
The evidence is there.
But will anyone look at it?
http://livenews.com.au/Articles/2007/09/10/Investigation_launched_into_APEC_police_tacticsThe tactics of police during APEC protests will be examined after they were accused of being too heavy-handed.
An internal investigation is being launched into police not wearing their identification badges at Saturday's APEC protest.
Photographs have been obtained by civil libertarians of around 200 officers not wearing their name tags as instructed in the police manual.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione says he has referred the matter to the professional standards command, but there has been some problem with badges being used as weapons against police.
18 people were arrested during Saturday's march, three men will face Central Local court today charged with assaulting police.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/apec/pm-hails-brilliant-police-tactics/2007/09/10/1189276633578.htmlTHE Prime Minister, John Howard, has defended the NSW Police Force's handling of protests against the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum.
His comments came as the Police Commissioner, Andrew Scipione, refused to pre-judge police officers seen without identification at the weekend protest, saying the tags might have fallen off in scuffles.
But in a video posted on the YouTube website, an officer can be heard saying that removing identification was official policy.
Demonstrators have accused police of being heavy-handed during Saturday's protest. But at a function to thank police involved in the APEC operation yesterday, Mr Howard expressed his complete support of all police actions.
"I think the Commissioner has done a first class job. A decision was clearly taken - the right decision - that pre-emptive and forward action was better than retaliation and, Commissioner, it worked brilliantly, it really did."
The Premier, Morris Iemma, said police acted appropriately and declared "mission accomplished".
"It could not have happened without the extraordinary level of professionalism," he said.
The success was proven by the fact no windows were broken, he said.
Mr Scipione said he was the proudest commissioner on the planet. Tough security ensured police officers did not have to deal with the violence of Melbourne's G20 protest last year.
The force's Professional Standards Command is looking into the failure of some officers to wear name tags. Demonstrators accuse police of trying to avoid scrutiny and say pins on tags could not have been used as weapons because the tags were backed with Velcro.
Mr Scipione said he would not pre-empt the outcome of the investigation. "There are times when officers might lose those badges in a scuffle."
But on the YouTube video, a NSW Police officer can be heard saying that it is one of the policies of "the bosses" that they did not wear identification badges during their summit duties.
The footage, filmed by Drew Bowie, shows a protester asking an officer why he does not have a name tag. The audio is faint, but the officer seems be saying, off camera: "It's one of the policies the bosses have this week".
He provides his name when asked by the protester. A spokesman for Mr Scipione said there was no official instruction to police to remove their badges.
One former police officer said there was no excuse to take off the badges. "They're saying they don't want anyone to know who they are, then they are demanding that the average citizen produce identification."
He said he was concerned some of the younger police would take the tough approach encouraged at APEC back to their local area commands.
The managing director of the Tourism and Transport Forum, Christopher Brown, said authorities failed to strike the right balance when given a promotional opportunity akin to hosting the Olympics.
"Empty streets with concrete barriers, high fences and riot squad officers, snipers in buildings and helicopters," Mr Brown told ABC Radio. "We just got out of control … we just didn't get the balance right between the imagery and security."
The Greens Senator Kerry Nettle called for an independent inquiry. She said she was concerned that police pointed guns at protesters and people were subject to video surveillance
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